Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi (Arabic: أبو البركات النسفي), was an eminent Hanafi scholar, Qur'an exegete (mufassir), and a Maturidi theologian. He is perhaps best known for his Tafsir Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil (Arabic: مدارك التنزيل وحقائق التأويل, lit. 'The Perceptions of Revelation and the Truths of Interpretation').
He was one of the foremost figures of the classical period of Hanafi jurisprudence and one of the major scholars of the Maturidi school in the Sunni tradition, which developed in parallel with Hanafiyya, who made a tremendous contribution in the field of Islamic sciences in Central Asia, especially to the dissemination of the Hanafian order and teachings of the Maturidi school in the Islamic world and left a great amount of scientific heritage.[1]
He successfully worked in different branches of Islamic studies such as tafsir, fiqh and kalam. For his contribution to Islamic sciences he was given an honorable title of "Hafiz al-Din" (Protector of the Religion).[2]
Some scholars ranked him as mujtahid in Hanafi fiqh.[4][5]
Name
Abu al-Barakat 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad b. Mahmud Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi (an ascription to the city of Nasaf in Transoxania, modern Qarshi in southern Uzbekistan).[6]
Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil (Arabic: مدارك التنزيل وحقائق التأويل, lit. 'The Perceptions of Revelation and the Truths of Interpretation').
Kanz al-Daqa'iq (Arabic: كنز الدقائق, lit. 'The Treasure of Exactitudes') is a summary of Islamic legal prescriptions according to the Hanifite school of sharia law.[12]
Manar al-Anwar fi Usul al-Fiqh (Arabic: منار الأنوار في أصول الفقه, lit. 'The Lighthouse casting Light on the Principles of Jurisprudence').[13]
'Umdat al-Aqa'id (Arabic: عمدة العقائد, lit. 'Basic Pillar of the Creeds'). A treatise on kalam (Islamic theology), expounding Sunni dogmas, with a refutation of the doctrines of the Shi'a and other sects. The work was edited by the English orientalist William Cureton and published in London in 1843, under the title of 'Umdat 'Aqidat Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah (Arabic: عمدة عقيدة أهل السنة والجماعة, lit. 'Pillar of the Creed of the Sunnites') he also wrote comments to this book and called it Al-I'timad (Arabic: الاعتماد, lit. 'The Reliance').
Al-Musaffa fi Sharh al-Manzuma al-Nasafiyya fi al-Khilafiyyat (Arabic: المصفى في شرح المنظومة النسفية في الخلافيات, lit. 'Exposition of al-Nasafi's Didactic Poem on the Divergences'). A commentary work on Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Nasafi's al-Manzumah fi al-Khilafiyyat which is a book on controversions and differences between law schools.
